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During the decade from mid-1990s to mid-2000s, if you asked a Chinese: "Who is the most famous in this country?" He/she probably answered: "Zhao Benshan (赵本山)."

Zhao is a comedian from Manchuria, well-known for his vulgarity. Zhao often pretended to be a disabled man, such as a blind or lame man, doing various ridiculous things.

But the party especially liked Zhao, because Zhao's vulgar performance could make people laugh loudly, thus forget serious political topics such as freedom and democracy.

After 2010, China's new rulers, for example, president Xi Jinping, no longer liked Zhao's farces. Zhao, losing his political backers, gradually disappeared from TV screen.